GDPR and Secure Email: Keeping Financial Comms Compliant

Since its implementation in 2018, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has become a central framework for safeguarding personal information.

It has changed how organisations collect, store, and use personal data - and how they communicate with customers when that data is involved.

As identity theft and cyber attacks increase, complying with GDPR matters more for firms that handle customer data every day. Banks and financial institutions process especially large volumes of personal information, so GDPR expectations bite hardest when customer communication moves online.

Before we dive deeper, let's start with a brief overview of GDPR.

What Is GDPR?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the European Union’s privacy law, which came into effect on 25 May 2018. In the UK, it continues to apply post-Brexit through the retained UK GDPR framework.

It applies to all companies that sell to or store personal information about citizens in Europe.

When considering what ‘personal data’ encompasses, common aspects that require protection include individuals’ names, email addresses, social networking details, bank information, medical history, and location.

The overall aim is to give individuals greater control over their data. Their rights now include:

1. The Right to Access: Individuals can request to see their data and ask how it has been used by the company in question.
2. The Right to Be Forgotten: If a consumer is no longer a customer, or they decide to withdraw consent from a company, their data must be deleted.
3. The Right to Data Portability: Individuals can now transfer their data from one service provider to another.
4. The Right to Be Informed: Consumers must be notified before any of their information is collected, giving them the option to opt in.
5. The Right to Have Information Corrected: Outdated or incorrect data can be altered by the individual it concerns.
6. The Right to Restrict Processing: Consumers can state that they do not want their personal information used for processing purposes.
7. The Right to Object: Consumers can, at any time, stop the processing of their data for direct marketing.
8. The Right to Be Notified: All affected individuals must be notified of a data breach within 72 hours of becoming aware of the incident.

How Does GDPR Affect Financial Organisations?

With consumers now in control of their data, what does this mean for businesses?

GDPR reaches beyond IT teams. It affects legal, operations, marketing, customer service, and any function that handles personal data.

Non-compliance can be extremely costly. Firms that fail to meet the basic principles of GDPR can face fines of €20 million or 4% of global revenue (whichever is greater). These penalties are designed to deter lax data handling.

Companies now have an obligation to take greater accountability for the data under their care, implementing new and essential processes to ensure the privacy of their customers' personal information.

For financial firms, adopting a clear data management strategy is crucial to meeting GDPR requirements. This strategy should cover data tagging, tracking, encryption, quarantining, and destruction.

To achieve this, a culture of protection must be fostered across all company areas. Organisations need to scale security measures based on risk, with outbound communications remaining a significant concern today.

How Does GDPR Affect B2C Communication?

Customer interactions are increasingly digital, a trend accelerated by the pandemic.

Businesses now communicate with consumers online, conducting Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering practices that were previously handled in person.

One primary channel for this is email. The Radicati Group estimates that around 392.5 billion emails will be sent and received worldwide each day in 2026.

While collecting data through emails offers convenience for both firms and clients, it brings several GDPR implications.

A crucial aspect of GDPR legislation is information security:

Personal data must be “processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal data, including protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction, or damage, using appropriate technical or organisational measures.”

This requirement covers both physical and cyber measures. Firms need adequate security to prevent data from being accidentally or intentionally compromised.

For cyber security, this means protecting online assets - from websites to email communications - against breaches and cyber attacks.

Why Does Email Need to Be Protected?

Email was never designed to be secure. Initially developed as a simple file-sharing tool among MIT students, email lacks the built-in security necessary to protect sensitive data from interception or breaches.

Financial services are 300 times more likely to be targeted by cybercriminals due to the vast amounts of sensitive customer data they handle. 62% of financial services organisations predict a rise in email threats in the future.

An email data breach can severely damage consumer trust in the affected company, harming its reputation and leading to customer loss.

For businesses that frequently use email for sensitive communications, this is particularly concerning for GDPR compliance. One ICO-recommended method for mitigating potential threats is email encryption.

What Is Email Encryption?

Email encryption is a critical component of outbound email security.

Encryption scrambles or disguises emails, ensuring the content is unreadable to unauthorised third parties.

There are various types of encryption in use today, such as Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Office Message Encryption (OME), each offering different levels of protection.

Mailock, our secure email solution, uses AES-256 encryption to protect sensitive customer data.

Coupled with two-factor authentication and email auditing and revoke capabilities, Mailock adds stronger safeguards around outbound email.

That can help advisers and providers reduce breach risk and support GDPR-related security expectations. Firms still need wider policies, processes, and accountability measures to meet GDPR overall.

Best Practices for GDPR Compliance in 2026

As the regulatory landscape evolves, financial organisations should take a proactive approach to data protection. Key best practices include:

• Conducting regular Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) for new digital initiatives
• Maintaining a comprehensive Record of Processing Activities (ROPA)
• Providing ongoing staff training on data privacy and secure communication
• Using end-to-end encryption and identity verification for outbound communications
• Appointing a Data Protection Officer (DPO) where required

FAQs

How Does GDPR Affect Email Communication?

Firms need to protect personal data, limit unnecessary exposure, and show appropriate controls when information is sent.

Why Is Email Encryption Relevant to GDPR?

Encryption helps reduce exposure if messages contain personal or sensitive information, especially outside closed systems.

What Should Financial Organisations Review?

Check data types, recipient verification, secure replies, retention, and evidence for customer communications.

References

How GDPR Impacts Financial Services Organisations, EY, 2023

Daily Number of E-Mails Worldwide, Statista, 2021

Cyberattacks Impact Major Threats to Financial Firms, Business Insider, 2019

The Relevance of Email Security in the Finance Industry, DuoCircle, 2023

A Guide to the Data Protection Principles, ICO, 2023

A Guide to Data Security: Encryption, ICO, 2023

Reviewed by

Sabrina McClune, 19.06.24

Sam Kendall, 31.05.26

This content is for general information only and is not legal advice.